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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24473230">Not Quite Ready</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doctor_Discord/pseuds/Doctor_Discord'>Doctor_Discord</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Trauma AU [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fem!Dark, Genderfluid Character, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Mental Anguish, Trauma, Wedding Rings, genderfluid!Dark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:22:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,456</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24473230</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doctor_Discord/pseuds/Doctor_Discord</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Host and Eric aren’t the only ones who emerged from the Actor’s reign broken beyond repair. Dark has his scars, too.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Darkiplier/Wilford Warfstache</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Trauma AU [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1739428</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>92</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Not Quite Ready</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Wilford was getting <em>very very </em>worried.</p><p>Dark was…not the man he once was. Which was to be expected, given that all he and <em>all </em>of the others had gone through, save himself and Dr. Iplier. They’d been lucky, he supposed. Not in the manor when the ambush struck. And the Septics had been kind enough to let them stay while they formulated a plan. It took longer than either of them liked – far, <em>far </em>longer – but they’d rather have waited than risk getting caught themselves and have all hope go down the drain.</p><p>Wilford was beginning to regret that decision.</p><p>He had no doubt Dr. Iplier was as well as he looked after his own husband, who’s grip on reality was looser than Wilford’s.</p><p>Dark was so…<em>quiet</em>. So small. Barely a blip in the room in terms of presence. Before, he’d been so…<em>obvious</em>. Radiating power, confident in himself, his abilities, and especially his role as the protector of their little family. But now, Dark was <em>none </em>of those things. He still liked to be in the room with the others, but he was hardly noticeable. Like a mouse in a room full of elephants. Practically terrified of his own shadow. Not to mention Dark’s feminine side. Ever since Dark had discovered a magical solution to their fluctuating gender, the feminine form had become just as common as the male. But ever since the Actor…Wilford had yet to see his wife <em>once</em>. It had been months since the rescue. And not a single time had Dark appeared in anything but his male body.</p><p>And with Wilford…</p><p>Wilford couldn’t even <em>touch</em> Dark without him flinching away and curling into a tighter ball. He always mumbled an apology, and a half-hearted excuse. Never able to look Wilford in the eye as he did. In bed, they used to sleep so tangled together, Dark tucked so comfortably against Wilford’s chest. But whenever Wilford tried to go anywhere <em>near </em>Dark while he was in bed, Dark would go into something akin to a panic attack, curled into such a tight ball there was no way it wasn’t painful, rambling to be left alone. And Wilford wasn’t an idiot. He’d noticed that Dark no longer wore his wedding band. And he was beginning to think…beginning to think that Dark didn’t love him anymore. That Dark hated him for leaving them all to <em>suffer </em>for so many months. That Dark just…had given up.</p><p>It broke Wilford’s heart.</p><p>After a while, Wilford got the picture. He stayed away from Dark. He didn’t try to touch him anymore. He slept in his own room for the first time…<em>ever</em>, really. Wilford was lonely, that was definitely for sure. He’d been with Dark for nearly sixty years before everything went to Hell. He hardly remembered a time without Dark by his side. He <em>loved </em>Dark, with everything he had. He still did, and he always would. Even if Dark…didn’t, anymore. And that side of him that was still a worried husband kept him from abandoning Dark.</p><p>Which led him to now.</p><p>He hadn’t seen Dark in a while. However much Dark <em>hated </em>touch, hated loud noises, he still liked to be where everyone else was. But Dark was nowhere to be found. And Wilford was worried. So he went looking.</p><p>He knocked loudly on Dark’s bedroom door – better to scare him with a sound than Wilford’s actual presence. “Dark? Are…are you in here?” When he got no response, Wilford’s concern spiked, and he gently pushed open the door.</p><p>The first this he noticed were the sobs. They were coming from the bathroom. Dark was <em>sobbing</em>, and <em>loudly</em>, and Wilford couldn’t help but wonder how he hadn’t heard them through the door. Just listening to them made Wilford’s chest hurt, and he crept forward, not wanting to startle his husband when he was in such a…state. “…Dark?”</p><p>He poked his head into the bathroom, and he <em>felt </em>his heart shatter. Dark was curled up into a pathetic little ball on the tile, wearing a long-sleeved black turtleneck and a pair of black sweatpants. Wilford had noticed he didn’t like to wear any constraining clothes like suits anymore. Dark didn’t seem to notice him, trembling and jolting with the force of his sobs. His eyes were barely open, tears cascading down his face as he fiddled with something in his hand.</p><p>When Wilford looked closer, he realized it was Dark’s wedding band.</p><p>He took another half-step closer. “…Dark?”</p><p>The reaction was immediate. Dark’s aura – already held so close to his body – shrunk further, till it was barely visible, as Dark himself sat upright and scrambling backwards, eyes wide and terrified as sobs still tore themselves from his body. Wilford raised his hands placatingly, sinking to his knees so he didn’t lord over Dark. “Hey, it’s okay, sweetheart, it’s just me. Just Wilford.”</p><p>Dark slumped with relief, and he pulled his knees up to his chest, burying his face between them as he sobbed. Wilford inched closer, raising a hesitant hand, and hesitating another moment further before laying it on Dark’s leg. Dark flinched back, pulling his leg away, and he lifted his head. Wilford…couldn’t even <em>begin </em>to describe the expression on his face. “…<em>Don’t</em>…”</p><p>Wilford pulled his hand back, nodding slowly. “Okay. I’m…sorry.” He nodded to Dark’s fist, the one clutched tight around his wedding band, as he began to twist his own on his finger. “I…I’d thought you’d gotten rid of that thing.”</p><p>Dark tilted his head, eyes barely visibly through his tears. His voice was strained and soft, and <em>God </em>did it make Wilford want to sob with him. “Why would you think that?”</p><p>Wilford tried for a smile, an attempt that quickly failed. “Well…you-you never wear it anymore. And I’d just figured – you don’t like me touching you, o-or kissing you, o-o-r even sleeping in the same bed as you anymore, I’d just thought – you’d gotten rid of it.”</p><p>A tiny, <em>miniscule</em> smile twitched at Dark’s lips, just for a moment, but Wilford caught it. “Oh Wil…” He opened his fist, staring at his ring, before holding his fist close to his chest. “I don’t…I don’t where it because – because –” Fresh tears poured down his cheeks. “Because it still doesn’t feel <em>safe </em>to.”</p><p>Now it was Wilford who tilted his head in confusion. “Doesn’t feel safe…?”</p><p>Dark was refusing to meet his eyes, staring at the lines of the tile. “…I hid it. Here. When he first came. If he’d have found it…” He curled tighter. “I don’t want to know what he would’ve done.”</p><p>Wilford didn’t want to press at what Dark meant. It was a miracle he’d gotten this much out of him already. But…Wilford risked inching closer, stopping when Darl recoiled. “Dark…” Wilford reached to hold Dark’s hand, only for his own hand to drop back into his lap. “What <em>happened</em>…?”</p><p>The dam broke.</p><p>“He <em>hurt </em>me, Wil!” Dark was sobbing again, fists clenched tight. “He <em>hurt </em>me, i-i-in ways I don’t want to relive, he hurt <em>me!</em>” And suddenly Wilford was staring at Dark’s feminine body, drowning in her turtleneck, eyes wide with the worst <em>anguish </em>he’d ever seen on Dark’s face. And he understood why <em>she </em>never wanted to appear. Dark glanced down at herself, and her free hand not clutching her ring fisted tight in her hair. Her voice shrunk again. “I’m sorry, I just…don’t know if I can handle…you…right now.”</p><p>Wilford thought his heart had already been shattered. He didn’t think he could feel <em>more </em>guilty for leaving Dark as long as he did. He didn’t think what little he knew of the Actor’s reign could get any worse.</p><p>He sniffed, hardly noticing his own tears. “Dark. Look at me, please?” Dark slowly lifted her head, her eyes taking the longest before they met his. Wilford smiled a little, slowly reaching for her hand to pull away from her hair, making sure she was watching him the whole time. She still flinched when he touched, but…she didn’t pull away, and Wilford held her hand between both of his own. “…I am…<em>never </em>going to hurt you. <em>Never</em>. And I will <em>never </em>touch you unless you let me.” He squeezed her hand a bit. “If you’re not ready yet, that’s okay.” He smiled again. “Come back to me when you’re ready. And in the meantime, I’ll be right here for you. I’m not going anywhere, Dark.”</p><p>Dark didn’t say anything, just bowed her head as another sob tore from her lips, shaking from the force, and the emotional, traumatizing onslaught of feelings.</p><p>But Wilford felt her squeeze his hand back.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>........The next one's worse.</p><p>Tumblr: doctordiscord123.tumblr.com</p></blockquote></div></div>
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